Fruitful Venture

"It started as a hobby,"

jokes Yaakov Berg, the personable but passionate
founder and CEO of Psagot Boutique Winery as he
surveys the sun-drenched view of the Nachal Prat valley
from the dining room of his visitors' center. "And
then it became a problem."

Psagot, a yishuv situated some 15 miles due north
of Jerusalem in the Binyamin hills, has been home
to Yaakov's winery since 2003. The intervening dozen
years have seen the winery grow from an annual
production of 3,000 bottles - mainly for family and
friends - to last year's output of 250,000 bottles. Although
that figure puts Berg's operation in the category
of a "boutique winery" - by comparison, Carmel
Wineries, Israel's biggest player, supplies 15 million
bottles annually - Psagot punches above its weight
in international competitions, consistently winning
gold medals and earning the respect of oenophiles
worldwide. Its latest entry, just in time for Shavuos, is
a much-anticipated 2014 vintage white Voignier, harvested
from an older section of the vineyard.